The present invention relates generally to digital cameras and more particularly to user interfaces for digital cameras used to control the camera function.
Most digital cameras currently on the market employ a very tedious process for sorting through the photographs stored on them. The word xe2x80x9csortingxe2x80x9d as used herein means xe2x80x9cto separate from othersxe2x80x9d and includes such processes as deleting, locking, grouping, printing, and rotating the photographs. Cameras such as the Hewlett-Packard C20 and the Olympus D320L require the user to go to a menu picture by picture and select xe2x80x9cdeletexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clockxe2x80x9d functions. This process is very time consuming and frustrating to most users, because they can neither select a group of pictures on which they want to perform a common operation, e.g., delete photos 1, 2, 5, and 12, nor can they select a group of operations to perform on a single photo, e.g., rotate and lock photo number 3.
An improvement to the method described above has recently been introduced by FlashPoint Technology Incorporated in their Digita operating system on the Kodak DC260 and Minolta EX Zoom 1500. Digita allows a user to select or mark a number of photos and then go to the menu and select an operation to perform on all the marked photos. While better than previous methods, this method still has two distinct disadvantages: (1) once in the menu, the user can no longer view the marked photos and (2) the user can not select a group of operations to perform on a single photo.
The storage space available for photographs on digital cameras is expected to dramatically increase in the near future, and it is anticipated that the number of sorting/editing operations which can be performed on a digital camera will also increase. As such, there is a pressing need for an improved, simple digital camera interface that will permit the faster sorting/editing of the stored photographs.
In representative embodiments, the present patent document discloses means for viewing and sorting photos at one time from a single screen. A user can (1) view from a single screen the photographs stored, (2) select the desired editing operations to perform on each photograph, and (3) photograph by photograph view a display of the photo and the selections made. Performing these actions from a single screen eliminates unnecessary steps. In representative embodiments, a user of a digital camera can easily and conveniently perform these actions by selecting and activating a desired menu listed function using only one or two thumbs while at the same time holding the camera.
In a representative embodiment, after taking a series of pictures, the user selects a xe2x80x9cSortxe2x80x9d mode or screen by either selecting from choices on a dedicated mode dial or from within a view menu. This sort screen displays thumbnails of the pictures taken along the left-hand side of the color LCD screen. Across the top of the screen are icons or text representing the available operations (delete, lock, rotate, etc.). The remainder of the screen is a matrix of check boxes lining up in rows with each photo and in columns with each operation. Using 4-direction navigation and an xe2x80x9cokxe2x80x9d button, the user can quickly scroll though the pictures and navigate through the matrix. To perform an operation on any one of the photos, the user simply highlights the check box associated with the desired photo and operation and xe2x80x9cchecksxe2x80x9d it by pressing the xe2x80x9cokxe2x80x9d button. Scrolling to the very top reveals an xe2x80x9cALL PHOTOSxe2x80x9d picture. Checking any box in this row performs the operation on all the pictures in the camera. If the user wants to zoom in on any of the pictures to view more detail before deciding how to operate on it, he simply highlights the desired photo and presses the xe2x80x9cokxe2x80x9d button. The picture is then displayed full screen. All check boxes for the photo are available in the top right comer of the display by pressing the right arrow. From here, the user can navigate through the matrix in the same way as in the zoomed out viewxe2x80x94up/down to scroll through pictures, left/right to scroll through operations, and xe2x80x9cokxe2x80x9d to select an operation.
A primary advantage of the embodiments as described in the present patent document over prior methods is that the user can view and sort images at one time from a common screen providing the user the advantages of clearly observing which images will have which operations performed on them and the user can select any combination of images and operations from a single screen, thereby eliminating unnecessary steps.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.